Evolution, transitions, and volvocine algae

Volvox, the Fierce Roller, is a model organism for the evolution of multicellularity and cellular differentiation.
I am a biologist who studies the evolution of biological complexity using Volvox and related algae as a study system. I blog about evolutionary biology, astrobiology, philosophy of biology, skepticism, academia and academic publishing, intelligent design and other forms of creationism, and whatever else happens to be on my mind.Read More…

Those aren’t the ones I’m talking about. At least, in those cases, he’s making a claim that can be fact-checked. More often, it’s just poisoning the well against (essentially all) legitimate news organizations:

Somebody with aptitude and conviction should buy the FAKE NEWS and failing @nytimes and either run it correctly or let it fold with dignity!

This is both transparently dishonest and cowardly. It’s cowardly because it allows him to throw shade on any negative claims without actually making any claims himself that could be refuted. It’s not that the major news organizations are without problems, nor that they don’t get things wrong. I’ve criticizedmanyof themmyself recently. But in those cases, I’m making a specific claim that is subject to being falsified, namely that Cuba didn’t attack Americans with a sonic weapon. If that turns out to be wrong, I’ll take my lumps.

Donald Trump wants to have it both ways: the press lies, so don’t believe them, but I’m not going to say what they lied about, so there’s no need (or way) to fact check. This is not how intellectually honest people argue; it’s how cowardly liars who don’t even believe their own bullshit argue.